Trading Dudes for Foods: Bant Aristocrats
October 9, 2023 by
Benjamin Nicol 
(Brenard, Ginger Sculptor | Art by Marta Nael)
Building Aristocrats Without Black Mana
Aristocrats is one of the most popular themes in all of Commander, with thirteen different color combinations popping up on its page. However, while six of the three-color combinations feature here, Bant does not. It makes sense; this color combination doesn't feature black (a hallmark of Aristocrat decks) and features in each color combination on the Aristocrats page. That said, as the game evolves, we're getting more and more options. Magic's latest set may have given us the perfect legend to build around.
Give my compliments to the chef!
Brenard, Ginger Sculptor is a very unique card. It cares about Food and Golems, but it lets you lean into both types since the tokens it create are both creature types. At first, I thought the Golem build-around would be mostly flavor text and I would rather build around sacrificing value creatures. But dang, Golems work so well with this card. Just be sure as you look at the page for this commander that you're able to sort through the noise. With so many decks to this commander's name already, it's helpful to filter for others who are building sacrifice decks with EDHRECs filters.
Specifically, these sacrifice decks utilize the “Splicers”, or cards that create Golem tokens when they enter. These cards have insignificant bodies that are easy to sacrifice, and a powerful EtB that creates Golems that are pumped by our commander. These cards can put so much power on the battlefield and generate a Golem's-ton of value. A bunch of them even grant extra abilities to your other Golems.
Wing Splicer, Blade Splicer, Master Splicer and more benefit the tokens they create, but also any of the tokens our commander makes. Often, the more niche tribes such as Golems don't have any good finishers, but the same can't be said here. If the value itself isn't enough to end the game. Phyrexian Triniform and Triplicate Titan can create an entire board state out of nowhere when combined with our sacrifice outlets.
Reaching Beyond the Staples
What we lose:
Well, I won't lie... playing in this combination of colors we lose a lot. First, we lose some of the best sacrifice outlets. Viscera Seer still holds up today as one of the best and cheapest free outlets. Carrion Feeder fills the same role and Woe Strider features as both of the aforementioned card's big brother. However, with many strong artifact options, I think this is likely the area where we lose the least by not playing black.
Losing the payoffs are where it really hurts. One of the strengths of these decks is that they can easily win outside of combat with Blood Artist or Zulaport Cutthroat. We lose out on these as well as some of the payoffs that reward us for sacrificing creatures like Mayhem Devil or Morbid Opportunist.
What we still have:
Don't worry though. With the artifact options we do have, I don't think we can complain too much. Phyrexian Altar and and Ashnod's Altar are classics and still all-stars in any Aristocrats deck. Not only is it free to sacrifice the creatures, but it's also mana-positive; These cards can quickly repay the cost that was spent to cast them.
Other outlets work well specifically with this deck's strategy. Pyre of Heroes and Birthing Pod are both limited to once per turn, but with the Golem strategy they both work well to enable our commander and create even more board presence.
Blasting Station looks like it only works once per turn, but as long as we have non-token creatures alongside our commander then we can activate it as much as we like. Skullclamp is an interesting card in that even though our commander makes 1/1 tokens, it also pumps them up. This means it's not a sacrifice outlet itself until our commander dies, but that doesn't mean you can't combine it with the deck's other outlets to draw insane amounts of cards.
Who Even Needs a Sacrifice Outlet?
Sacrifice outlets can be overrated. Many of the best creatures in the format sacrifice themselves for a benefit. Selfless Spirit and Sakura-Tribe Elder are two of the most-played creatures in the format and they do double duty in our deck as creatures that can trigger our commander's ability on their own.
Evoke as a mechanic works great with any deck that cares about creatures dying. You can pay the cheaper cost of Mulldrifter and draw double the cards for a cheaper cost. Reclamation Sage is a staple for a reason, but we can find the same effect with Evoke on Foundation Breaker.
The Evoke mechanic's infamous cards are the Modern Horizons 2 cycle of free cards, two of which, Solitude and Subtlety, are both well worth it in this deck. The card disadvantage is mitigated by the ability to double up the trigger and still keep the creature with our commander's ability.
So we can get by without some of the staples, but what are we gaining from playing these colors?
But What Are The Pros of Playing Bant?
Not only is it fun to build around an archetype that isn't traditionally supported, but this color combination also gives us a lot of interesting synergies. First off, one of the most unique aspects of this card is that it is one of the few commanders that cares about food.
Food has gotten an insane amount of support since its original token appearance four years ago. Much of this support is within Bant colors. Academy Manufactor just keeps getting better and better and is a perfect fit for this deck. Motivated Pony can really pack a punch and put a ton of power on the board out of nowhere. Night of the Sweets' Revenge is not only one of the greatest card names in history, but it also does a little bit of everything. It's a mana rock and comes with a Food that also allows all of our Food to tap for mana. Once we have our deck fully built out, it can become a win condition.
Token-doublers are expensive because they can have a game-warping effect. If it's in your budget, Anointed Procession and Doubling Season are all-stars in this deck. Not only do they work well with our commander's ability, but they also work so well with all the Golem tokens we are creating.
In Conclusion
This deck takes advantage of so many different mechanics and cards in unique ways. What ways have you built around this new card? Let me know in the comments.
Check out the full deck below!
Aristo-Food
View on Archidekt
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Read more:
Commander Mechanic - Building Aristocrats in Commander? Start Here!
Benjamin Nicol
Ben is a Michigan native who fell in love with Magic just a few years ago in 2019. He loves making big splashy plays in Commander as well as crunching the number to optimize his decks. Outside of Magic, he works in marketing and loves a great cup of coffee to start each morning… maybe with a splash of hot chocolate for his sweet tooth.
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